Well if this fella don't about get ya jealous as hell, I won't know what will. Man! The whole time I'm reading this I'm sitting there drooling. Taint fair I say. Taint fair. Is it just me, or does the second hand on clocks seem to take longer and longer the closer and closer we get? There are some spoilers, but only if revealing what sort of creatures and ships are spoilers, and that's pretty much well known stuff. But still, if you are really sensitive turn back, but if ships and creature news and views, and slight details on one action sequence won't bother you, then dive into 2-1B's report...
I was lucky enough to get a guided tour around Leavesden just before shooting wrapped last September.
The whole feeling that one got from the amount of work being done on different soundstages was that a movie of "old time" Cecil B. de Mille epic proportions was being filmed.
We saw props, ships, sets, creatures and pre-production work that appears to have been mentioned before in your bulletins. There were plenty of old favourites in the creature shop (Ree Yees, Greedos, etc.) including what appeared to be Wookie costumes. We also saw bits and pieces of the short, wrinkly, green one. There was also a concept piece of a much younger Yoda with an Elvis quiff. Apparently the buzz from the creature people was that Yoda's scenes (that had recently finished shooting) were light years ahead in sophistication from those in "The Empire Gets Lucky". WHat was also significant were the number of concepts for creatures and 'droids that were going to be digitally created.
THe ships we saw looked fantastic! There were bucket loads of landspeeders with truly funky fins. We also saw the set with the small yellow starfighters that have been officially publicised. What they didn't show in those pics was the blue screen that stretched along the whole of the opposite side of the set, and this was a pretty big set. It seems that Georgie Porgie is putting in some gargantuan effects shots. All the designs we saw for spaceships or other craft appeared to have sleek, or organic lines to them rather than the chunky boxes of 4,5 & 6. I cannot confirm anything about the Falcon though, there was no evidence of it at all, though whose to say she won't be seen.
We saw some set designs that were contructed of paper and card rather than being computer generated and they looked pretty amazing. Not one set was going to be made that would exceed two stories, everyting higher than that was going to digitally created in post-production. All I can say is that the computer geeks have got a lot of work to do.
We saw the man himself filming a scene with Jake Lloyd. The sequence appeared to be some kind of race and Jake seemed to do OK although all he had to do was look this way and that and twist his throttles on cue. George had the whole sequence preplanned on a rolling story board. As scenes were completed they were pasted into the whole sequence. Some images were rough digital creations that were obviously going to be replaced at a later date, George was also using his favourite b/w war movie stock for live scenes yet to be shot. It was a little surreal. I think I may have also glimpsed the mighty Jabba, himself, or perhaps I hallucinated him. All I can say is that if the whole sequence makes it to the final cut it will be amazing. George has not lost his touch. The sequence was pacy, tense, and exhilerating. If this was some kind of race in Beggar's Canyon throwback then it was one on speed.
I also saw quite a few R2 units, including the man. I did not see any evidence of stormtroopers (shame! What will any SW film be without these goons!), Boba Fett or friends like him, or any clue as to what the movie is about, except that it is BIG.
Anyway, I hope you might find some crumb in the above that you have not already heard or seen. After seeing all the above I just wanted time warp to Spring 1999 with a bucket of popcorn. My friend and I went straight back home watched all three movies and fantasised about being Leia's rubber dress.
Call me 2-1B.
